This invention relates to a cassette for storing an inked ribbon in which the cassette may be operated in a first mode when a single "color" ribbon is used, and a second mode when a "bi-color" ribbon is used so as to obtain, for example, bi-color printing capability.
Some of the problems with prior art ribbon shifting mechanisms which are used to obtain bi-color printing capability are that they are generally complex, expensive to manufacture, and have a large mass which must be shifted. Some prior art ribbon shifting mechanisms are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,897,867, 3,904,016 and 3,904,017.
The present invention obviates the problems mentioned in the previous paragraph in addition to realizing the usual benefits derived from ribbon cassettes, ie. low cost, ease and cleanliness of changing ribbons, etc. The cassette of this invention may be used with various business machines like accounting machines, printers, etc.